Is Ecommerce CRM Software Right For Your Company?

There is enough information out about ecommerce CRM software for it to be easy to understand that it can be very beneficial for business. If you have gone a step further and read some of the CRM software reviews, you also know that there are many different CRM software/cloud services to choose from. Taking a step back to examine whether or not cloud CRM benefits are a good match for your company is essential. While CRM offers a lot, does it really offer what your company needs?

First, Identify The Issue With Your CRM

While all the articles online would have you believe ecommerce CRM software is the best way for customer relationship management to be done, the truth is that you are already doing it without these specialized programs.

Based on an analysis of your productivity and organization when it comes to your CRM process, where could it stand to be improved? The two things to look for are your satisfaction ratings and pipeline cost to return. If you have lower performance than you like, or your performance in those areas has plateaued, then adopting a different and more fully featured ecommerce CRM software is beneficial.

Define Who Would Access The CRM

The next step is to define who would access the CRM and how (and whether or not you will need a beginner’s guide to ecommerce CRM software). If it is limited to in-house applications, or even just one department then choosing CRM software not cloud based is an option. If you can project use that would extend beyond one area and possibly include allowing customer access, then choosing a cloud based CRM is ideal. You also want to project the amount of users you expect to be using the CRM benefits. This will then help you define the potential cost of the adoption.

How Many Users Is The Key To CRM Cost

Almost all ecommerce CRM software services are cost defined by user access. This is the key figure when it comes to projecting the cost of the adoption of cloud services. If you pick too low an access amount you will find that the CRM will become stable.

Always calculate out your expected users and add 10% to that number to size the CRM cost for access. Most of the problems companies have reported have been a result of having too many users on an account defined by a lower user access number. If you add in a 10% rate above your count you know that your CRM benefits will always be accessible because the system will not be overwhelmed.

Calculate The Training Costs In Time And Dollar Amount

The last thing you should be looking at is what your expected training costs will be. Most of the ecommerce CRM software service providers have training bundles built into their tiered costs, but they cannot estimate the time cost to your productivity.

Look beyond your early adopters when you are doing your projections. Making sure you test the CRM software/cloud service with a group that does not include early adopters will give you the best estimate of the training needs your company will face. If you account for all of these considerations you will know whether your company can use the CRM benefits, and project how much it will cost to implement them.